Evangelicals advised to confront sexual abuse and coverups

Evangelical churches need to confront sexual abuse and coverup within their own ranks, according to a statement signed by more than 1,500 people worldwide and promoted by a former sex-crimes prosecutor.

The “Public Statement Concerning Sexual Abuse in the Church of Jesus Christ” was prompted in part by a Maryland lawsuit filed by 11 people against Sovereign Grace Ministries, a denomination now based in Louisville, alleging cover-up of abuse within its churches. Read more

No child can be enslaved without the consent of its mother. A mother fighting for her children is the most determined of foes. And a mother who believes that she and her children have no other destiny than slavery will tremblingly teach her babies the very values that the enslavers demand.

—Patricia Nell Warren

I never realized that a child is capable of remembering so well and of waiting so patiently.

—Janusz Korczak

Everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe, and that right is absolute. But the right to act on one’s religious beliefs is not absolute. . . . .I don’t think that there’s any room under the law for endangering the life of a child. Or under the First Amendment. These laws are not supposed to extend that far.”

— Charles Haynes, Director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute

I remember clearly the agony and anguish I felt as a child. I remember that no adult stepped forward to end it. The law authorized my parents’ decision to leave me untreated, and the sanction of the law discouraged others from doing what is right. But refusing to act on the pain a child feels is criminal.

—Liz Heywood, Survivor, Born into the Christian Science Church

The Ten Commandments made room to condemn taking God's name in vain, keeping the Sabbath holy, and prohibiting graven images, but there is no "Thou shalt not rape." The Quran places great priority on not eating pork and on gathering wives and slave girls; but this horrific, devastating crime that has been committed rampantly throughout history against half of humanity doesn't even get an acknowledgement of existence.